What if Beat the Devil
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if Lucifer had had a plan all along?
1. Chapter 1

Sam took a breath and sat up, confused. The vamps. He was dead.

"Hiya, Sammy."

Sam turned slowly around to see Lucifer. "Did you bring me back?" he asked in utter confusion. Sam reached up and felt his neck. "Did you put a collar on me?" He tried to take it off. He couldn't.

"Yes to both questions."

"Why?"

"Because I need your soul," Lucifer answered.

"What?" Sam asked. Was he going to be walking around soulless again?

Lucifer walked over and stuck his hand into SAm, touching his soul, feeding off of it the way only angels can. He smiled, also getting perverse pleasure out of hearing Sam screams. He closed his eyes, remembering all the little details of how his plan was coming together.

1972

"Lucifer!"

Lucifer had been sitting in the cage, completley isolated for millennia. 100 times millennia. He heard Azazel calling him. One of his princes. His most loyal prince.

"My son," he answered him.

He listened as the moron talked about how he would break him out of jail. Really? If he were so great why hadn't he done it already? NO, there were only a few demons he could really count on. He knew that.

"Lillith," he said. The name of his first, favorite, and best. She knew the plan. Had known it from the very beginning. He hadn't been able to speak to her since he had been locked in this cage, nearly 2,000 earth years ago. But, he knew he had control of her that would surpass time and distance.

"Lillith?" Azazel repeated in disgust. Lucifer knew there was no love lost between those two. "But, she's deep in the pit."

"Lillith can get me out," Lucifer repeated more firmly.

"OK, OK," Azazel said, and Lucifer knew that he would do it. After all, Azazel worhsipped him. "But what do I do?" he was whining.

"Find me a special child," Lucifer said. He then went on to explain about the Winchesters and the Campbells. He left out the part about the angels arranging a match. Added in some BS about a big demon army. Only Lillith could know the whole plan. She would dole out what bits and pieces she deemed necessary to who she could trust. Azazel trusted only Lillith.

SSS

2007

Lillith felt the wind for the first time in she didn't know how long. The devil's gate was open. She had to get out of it. It was starting. She had to break the seals to let Lucifer out. Lucifer would rule the world. Worlds really. People had no idea that there were so many more dimensions out there than this one. And, Lucifer would rule them all.

The other demons made way for her. They didn't know exactly what was going on, but they knew that Lillith had been given the task of setting Lucifer free. That was all Azazel had told them. But, it was enough. Lucifer had to break free.

When LIllith was out, she took a deep breath. She had to find Crowley. He had been topside for years. He was her right hand man and the key to accomplishing all her goals.

Present time

Lucifer withdrew his hand out of Sam and watched as Sam fell back exhausted. "Now are you going to kill me again?" he asked, almost hopefully. He was sick of always dying and coming back to life. It was getting ridiculous if you thought about it. Actually, it was ridiculous even if you gave it no thought.

"No, Sam. I'm going to have to continue to feed off of you. At least until I accomplish my goal."

Sam didn't think he wanted to know what Lucifer's goal. And, didn't think he'd tell him if he asked anyway, so he didn't bother. "Why not just use someone else's soul?" he asked, genuinely curious. "There's nothing special about mine."

"That's where you're wrong, Sammy. Maybe sometime I'll tell you how wrong you are."

Sam wrinkled his brow in confusion. Lucifer disappeared.

Sam got unsteadily to his feet and headed towards the edge of the "room" or whatever you would call a tunneled out section of a tunnel. When he got to the edge he hit something. There was nothing there, though. Lucifer must have put up an invisible force field. Sam curled up to get some sleep. he had to have his strenght and wits about him when Lucifer came back.

SSS

2008

"Lillith, I'd like you to meet someone I've recruited for our little project," Crowley said.

Lillith didn't trust this recruit. Didn't like him. Felt nothing but utter contempt. OK, and some fear, if she were honest with herself.

"This is Castiel," Crowley continued.

"What has Crowley told you?" she asked the angel.

"he told me that Lucifer is going to rule the universe. It will take years. I will have to be a double agent. A triple agent even. And I will have to be very, very convincing. Everything will depend on the Winchesters believing I'm their ally. It will be difficult, because all the while I will have to act like I'm finding Lucifer and the demons, while actually fighting the angels and keep the Winchesters in the dark."

"What about pulling dean Winchester out. He's broken the first seal?"

"I've leaked the information about the first seal. I've received orders to rescue him. I was just waiting on confirmation from you that the seal had been broken and I can go ahead."

Lillith nodded. She hated trusting an angel. Especially one as devious as this one would have to be to pull this off, but there was no other choice. The angel disappeared at her nod and Lillith turned to Crowley.

"How's Ruby doing?" he asked. As far as he was concerned she was the weakest point of the whole plan. They had had to pick a demon who was not only manipulative, but soft. All demons were manipulative. But soft ones were rare and not reliable.

"Sam's been drinking blood since about two weeks after Dean's death. Everything is really coming together."

Crowley nodded. He was sensing hesitation on Lillith's part. She would have to be closely watched.

SSS

Present day

Lucifer winged into the rebel camp. Right in front of Dean just to be annoying.

"What do you want?" Dean asked. His heart wasn't in it. Sam was dead.

"I'm here for my son," Lucifer answered.

"Never," Jack said. "I'm not going with you."

Dean stepped protectively in front of Jack. Lucifer easily flung him aside, put his hand on Jack and they both disappeared.

"JACK!" Castiel yelled, trying to sound convincing. He was so utterly sick of Dean. "I'm going after them. Everybody else stay here," he said and ran off. He knew under ordinary circumstances Dean would try to follow him. He didn't think he would now, with Sam "dead" and Mary needing protection.

"What do we do now?" Mary asked Dean.

Dean shook his head. He had no idea. Should they stay. Should they go back. Not only didn't he know. He didn't care.

SSS


	2. Chapter 2

"Sammy, wake up." Sam heard a familiar voice and felt someone stroking his head. He opened his eyes. "You're dead," he complained.

"I was," Ruby conceded. "But the first thing Lucifer did after you sprang him was to bring Lillith and me back to life."

"Where have you been?"

"You're weak. Lucifer needs you strong," Ruby said as she pulled out a knife and cut her arm.

"No," Sam said, scooching away.

Ruby grabbed Sam's head and pushed his mouth against her arm. Once an addict, always and an addict. Sam wasn't able to resist drinking it in. He remembered the coppery taste and how much he had missed it. He felt the almost pleasant burn as it ran down his throat. He groaned with pleasure.

When Ruby thought he had had enough she shoved him back.

SSS

2009

Lucifer came up, out of the cage back to life. He didn't have a vessel yet, but he knew he soon would. He slammed the door so that Sam and Dean couldn't get out. He knew they would. Cas would zap them out of harm's way. All part of the plan. By the time his energy had fully come onto the earth, they were out of the room.

He resurrected, Lillith and Ruby. He couldn't speak to them. Not without a vessel. They were only demons after all, and he was an angel. But, he sent to a different dimension. They would pave the way. Start working on the apocalypse over there. Pit the angels and humans against each other. That they would be succesful, he had no doubt. When the time came, angels would be the enemy over there. He and his demons and a select few angels and humans would be the saviors and from that dimension he would take over all the others.

SSS

Present day

"What happened to the vampires?" Sam asked.

"Lucifer killed them," Ruby answered.

"What's with the collar?" Sam asked. It wasn't attached to anything so it wasn't restraining his any way.

"Kind of like a devil's trap for psychics. You're powerless with that collar on."

Sam sighed. He had figured at some point he would have enough juice to kill Ruby.

"What's so special about my soul anyway?"

"Your soul is the trifecta. It's been nourished with demon blood since you were a baby. Even though you stopped drinking it, you always had some in you. You're soul shared housing with the devil. And, it was separated from soul AND mind and tortured for centuries. There's no other soul like yours.

"What's Lucifer's plan?"

"You're very curious today," Ruby said. "Why don't you try to get some more sleep?" She pulled a syringe out of a bag and injected Sam with something. He closed his eyes and slumped down on the bed.

SSS

Cas came running back into the camp. "I lost them," he said.

"Of course you did. Lucifer can fly and you can't," Dean pointed out.

"I had to try, Dean," Cas said.

"Whatever. I'm going to back for Sam's body," Dean decided.

"He's surrounded by vamps," Gabriel pointed out.

"I don't care. I'm not leaving him behind!"

"I'll go with you," Mary said.

"No," Dean said.

"I'm going," Mary said, firmly.

"I'll go, too," Gabriel sighed.

"I'll stay here and protect these people," Cas said.

"Fine," Dean said. He didn't even want Mary and Gabriel going. This was supposed to be a solo suicide mission.

SSS

Sam woke up in the middle of the woods. Lucifer, Ruby, Lillith, Jack, and Crowley were all standing over him. "Crowley? I thought you were dead."

"But, you didn't actually see me die, did you?" Crowley asked.

"No," Sam admitted thinking back. "Are you OK, Jack?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Finally reunited with my father. I've got a small army of angels and humans ready to fight Michael. And, I'm about to power up even more." And he stuck in his hand into Sam. Sam screamed as Jack laughed. He had fooled everybody.

Jack threw Sam back onto the ground when he was done with him. Sam hit his head on a rock.

"You didn't kill him, did you, son?" Lucifer asked.

"If I did we can always bring him back, right?" Jack asked. "You even said each resurrection makes his soul stronger. It's why you made sure he died so many times."

"That's true."

"He's alive," Ruby said after checking.

"Wake him up and feed him," Lucifer said.

Ruby shook Sam awake and tapped one of her veins. Sam turned his head away, but in less time than before she was able to feed him. He knew that every time he fed it was going to be harder and harder to resist.

"Ok. Let's go. We have to rally our troops."

"What about Sam?" Lillith asked. "Aren't we taking him with us?"

"No. He gets on my nerves. Besides some of our troops still think we're the 'good guys' what with Jack and his angel face recruiting."

Jack rolled his eyes. "But, Lillith has a point. Won't he escape?"

Lucifer walked over and put him to sleep. "We'll be back before he wakes up."

"OK, I guess," Ruby said. She, for one, had learned not to underestimate the Winchesters.

"Ruby, you know that I can call him to us with a snap of my fingers. That collar works almost like a magnet."

"That's true," she had forgotten.


	3. Chapter 3

2010

Lucifer stood in his new, huge meatsuit. He had put Sammy to sleep after tormenting him earlier with killing his "enemies" and giving the big Star Wars speech. He looked out at his crew, such as it was.

"Do we all know our jobs?" he asked. "Cas, you're up first, and you have a lot of responsibility. I'm counting on you." Cas had more than earned his trust over the last couple of years. He had the angels fighting amongst themselves. Somehow gotten Uriel to kill almost a whole garrison. Convinced Dean to say no to Michael. Acted like he was powered down. Let Raphael think he was dead, when he really just used Lucifer's favorite trick of deflection. Then got to act like he was resurrected by God himself. The angel was a master at deception.

"Yes. I wait about a month earth time, ten years hell time, and then I come down and bring out Sam's body and mind, but not his soul. Meanwhile, I wage war in Heaven with Raphael. I'll pretend to be consuming human souls, so that everything can be forgiven at a later date because I made a "mistake". I'll open Purgatory and let the leviathans out. Then, I'll let the Winchesters think the Leviathans have killed me."

"Great. Crowley what will you be doing?"

"I'll be assisting Castiel in his deception that he's temporarily gone insane. I'll bring back Samuel Campbell so that the Winchesters will be concentrating on family drama and may not notice our deception."

"Death?"

"I will teach Dean a valuable lesson and get Sam's soul back in about a year and a half's time. Then after the leviathans come out, I will instruct them on how to put everything else in Purgatory back."

"Perfect. OK, what happens after the leviathans?" He really needed his team to be on top of things. Even though once the cage was popped, it couldn't really be locked again, he needed to seem to be contained until the time was right. The major flaw in the plan was how Cas and Death were supposed to be able to waltz in and out of this thing that had held him prisoner for two millennia and that not even all the demons or all the angels could bypass seals to get into it.

"Long story short, the Winchesters will kill them, but not without Cas's help, welcoming him back with open arms. The Leviathans, of course, will want to find the tablet that has all their info on it, and once they've found that one, we can find the angel and demon tablets. It's a good thing leviathans are so predictable," Crowley said.

"It's a good thing everyone is so predictable," Lucifer corrected. "OK, so Dean will kill the head leviathan and Cas will be standing near him so that you both end up in Purgatory. You take off and leave Dean alone. I've got a vamp down there that will befriend Dean and get him out. You stay. If I know Naomi, she'll drag you out and she has no idea I've made you immune to her machinations."

"Then I have a demon possess a vet and place a dog in harm's way," Crowley continued.

"A cupid will take it from there," Lucifer agreed. Sam wouldn't just not look for dean because of some random chick, but it wouldn't be fully under his control if a cupid got in on the act. "Then when Benny and Dean get up top, we'll split Sam and his love bird up and Cupid will end the spell. He may have some residual feelings, but it won't interfere with his reunion."

"Then, we'll make sure Sam and Dean know they can close the gates of Hell. This part is tricky because Dean will want to do the trials, but if he does them, he'll finish them. If SAm does them, he'll talk him out of finishing them and that's what we need."

"I'll make one of my pups let Sam have an easy kill. Once he's done one of the trials, he'll finish them. Wouldn't make sense otherwise. Hell hounds are hard to kill."

"And, you'll get Dean to take the mark of Cain? And kill CAin? And they'll let Amara out?"

"yes, yes," Castiel said impatiently. "And, we'll have someone disguise themselves as that ridiculous prophet Chuck and he'll pretend to be God. But, you'll be back by that time."

"Yes? Rowena? She's on board?"

"Of course. Mother and I are going to pretend to hate each other's guts. The Winchesters aren't going to even know what's going on half the time."

"Now, it's time for your fight with Michael," Cas said.

SSS

Present Day

"Why are all these vamps dead?" Dean asked as they entered the tunnel and stepped over dozens of bodies.

"Maybe they stared to death," Mary suggested.

"All at once, more or less?" Gabriel questioned.

Dean led them down the tunnel where Sam had been dragged. They came to a room at the end of it. The trail of dead vampires ended there. It was otherwise empty. There was blood splattered all over the place. But, no sign of Sam.

"Do you think he was still alive and killed all the vamps?" Dean asked hopefully.

"By himself?" Gabriel asked. "Look, I hate to be the voice of reason, but you two are really grasping at straws."

"Well, where is he then?" Dean yelled.

"If he's alive I can find him," Gabriel said.

"ARe you strong enough for that?" Dean asked.

"Not right now. But, if one of you lets me touch his soul, I'll have enough juice to center in on him and zap us to probably within fifty yards of him."

"But the marks on our ribs?"

"Those are no good against archangels.

Dean furrowed his brow in confusion. "OK. Do it," Dean said, not hesitating for an instant. He knew the risks, and didn't care. If there was any chance Gabriel was right, well, this was Sam.

SSS

Sam woke up on the ground. He groaned. Having angels feed on your soul was really exhausting. He sat up and looked around. He didn't see anyone. He carefully made his way to his feet and started walking. He didn't think he'd get very far.

He was still walking an hour later and had to sit down to rest. Maybe since Lucifer and Jack had both touched his soul once they had all they needed and just left him to die. After a few minutes he stood up and started walking again. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Going somewhere, Sam?"

"Cas," Sam said with evident relief as he turned around.

"SAM!" That was Dean's voice.

"Oh crap," Cas said, as Sam opened his mouth to yell back. Cas quickly placed his hand on Sam's shoulder and zapped them away.

"Is this a prison?"

"Obviously. It was abandoned years ago."

"Why did you bring me here? How did you bring me here? You don't have wings."

"That's just what I wanted you to think. I never lost my grace, Sam. That wasn't even the last ingredient for casting the angels out. But, Metatron placed me on the ground, so I would still be a full angel."

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. I've never understood why everyone considers you the smart one. You're actually quite idiotic." Cas shoved Sam in a cell and disappeared with a flutter of wings. He upped the warding on Sam's ribs to include archangels. Under Lucifer's orders he hadn't made Sam and Dean's wardings that strong before. For obvious reasons. They were just lucky that Michael had never personally tried to find them. He was lazy that way. Let his underlings do everything. But, with that collar around Sam's neck, Lucifer didn't need the more conventional tracking ways.

SSS

"He was here, but he's not any more," Gabriel said.

"Find him again," Dean said. He wouldn't yell next time. Stupid to tip Lucifer off like that.

"I can't. He must be warded."

"he was warded before," Dean pointed out.

"You two were never warded against archangels. I could always sense the two of you."

"Then why could Lucifer and Michael never find us?" Dean asked.

"Maybe they never tried," Gabriel shrugged.

"What difference does any of this make. At least we know he's alive, right?" Mary pointed out.

"But, he's with Lucifer." Dean had watched Sam's hallucinations for almost a year. He couldn't imagine what being with the real thing was doing to his brother. "SAMMY!" he yelled again in vain.


	4. Chapter 4

As Lucifer was about to review his troops he thought back on the last year. The culmination of all his plans. He had a son. He opened a rift. Everybody thought Jack did it, but he did. Most people, OK, no people, but most angels and demons didn't even know about the other dimensions. Every time a crossroads deal was proposed, the universe split in two. One where the deal went through and one where it didn't. This dimension was where Mary told Azazel to take his deal and shove it. It was because of that that he chose it for his plans. A lot of the dimensions weren't that different. For instance, Evan Hudson's wife dying of cancer changed nothing on a global scale. And who cared if that artist guy had talent or not?

But, Mary's deal. That was the deal to end all deals. Well, not literally, of course. There have been other deals. Dean's deal. His not making that deal changed plenty, too. But, Lucifer wouldn't worry about that until he was ready to rule the entire universe. Every single dimension.

Jack led in the troops. There were angels and demons that Ruby and Lillith had been able to recruit to the cause in the last 7 or 8 years. They were staunch followers. The girls had had plenty of time to make sure of their loyalties and cull the group until there were only true loyalists. But, then there were some that Jack had recruited in his time here. His group included humans. This group was untested, but Lucifer trusted his son had inherited his instincts. He hoped so anyway.

"We WILL defeat Michael and all his followers!" Lucifer bellowed.

Cheers went up.

"We WILL defeat all other dissenters!"

More cheers but a bit more subdued, Lucifer noticed.

"Then we will go to my world where only a handful of angels are left and take over that dimension as well!"

More cheers.

And then by having access and control of two Heavens, Lucifer would have the capacity to enslave all of mankind in every dimension. But, he wisely left that unsaid.

SSS

Gabriel transported the three of them back to camp. Castiel was waiting for them. "Were you able to retrieve his body?" he asked in as kind of a tone as he could muster up.

"He's alive," Dean said, "but we don't know where he was."

"That's impossible, Dean," Cas lied.

"I think Lucifer brought him back."

"But, why would he do that? Lucifer isn't exactly a fan of Sam's." Cas had to end this conversation. Lucifer needed Mary to rally more humans. They had been following her.

"He must want him for something," Mary said.

"Speaking of which, some of the people in Bobby's camp asked to see you." Cas decided Mary could get nabbed on the way there.

"I'm on my way," Mary decided.

"No. None of us are going anywhere," Dean said. "With both Lucifer and Michael out there, it's too dangerous. We need to wait here for Bobby and then we need to make our final attack."

"Wait," Gabriel said. "I have an idea." "Come with me," he said to Cas and Cas followed him outside of the camp to buy some time to figure out if he should just nab Mary or inform Lucifer. Once they were well out of the perimeter, Gabriel snapped his fingers.

"Was that it?" Dean asked.

"I just warded the entire area from angels. If any angel tries to enter, they'll burn. It won't kill them. But, they won't be able to cross or eliminate it."

"Can you make it so it WILL kill them?" Dean asked.

"Nope. Sorry, bucko."

Cas had been about to break cover and snatch Mary. That plan was out the window. "Excuse me," he said. "I'll go and check on Bobby's camp and try to hurry them along." And relay this information to Lucifer.

"Want me to go with?" Gabriel asked.

"No, you stay here just in case," Cas said and glad nobody asked him just in case what. It would have made more sense for Gabriel to go with him, of of course.

SSS

Sam shivered. Would it have killed Cas to leave him a blanket? He couldn't believe that Cas had been doublecrossing them. He wondered for how long? Or maybe this was the Cas of this dimension. Maybe the Cas that he had known for years was still on their side and he had just made up all that stuff?

He turned around as he heard a fluttering of wings.

"What do you want?" Sam asked.

"Your mother," Lucifer answered.

"Well, she's not here," Sam pointed out.

"No, but I think she'll give herself up for you, don't you?"

"No," Sam protested. Lucifer snapped his fingers and Sam found himself unable to talk.

"That's better. You never did know when to shut up."

Lucifer reached out and the next thing Sam knew, they were standing in back of Gabriel. Sam wanted to shout out a warning, but not only couldn't he speak, he found himself completely paralyzed. Even his eyes wouldn't do anything but stare straight ahead.

Lucifer plunged his blade into Gabriel's back before Gabriel even started turning around.

Dean and Mary heard the commotion and ran over to the edge of the camp.

"Sam, are you OK?" Dean asked. He was worried. He had never seen anyone so still ever. He wasn't even blinking.

"He's fine. I just have him motionless," Lucifer assured him. "As soon as your mother agrees to leave with me, I'll release him."

"OK," Mary said. "But, let him go, first."

"I know about the warding, Mary. If I let him go first, why would you come out?"

"If I come out, why would you let him go?" Mary countered.

Lucifer shoved Sam toward Dean but didn't release the paralysis. "Come out, or he'll stay frozen forever.

Mary meekly walked towards him. Lucifer released Sam's paralysis. A deal was a deal, after all.

"Are you OK, Sam?" Dean asked.

Sam whispered "Cas".

"What?" Dean asked, when Sam disappeared from before his eyes.

SSS

Lucifer flew Mary to a room. He erased all her memories and replaced them with new ones. Mary was now on his side and would rally all her allies to him. Well, probably not Dean, of course. And, maybe not the curmudgeonly Bobby. But, most of the rest of them. That was for sure.

He snapped his fingers. Sam appeared before him.

"Who's that?" Mary asked.

"You remember, Mary. This is Michael's favorite pet. He's almost like a son to him."

"That's right," Mary said. "We're hurting him to get to Michael."

Sam wanted to cry.

"RUBY!" Lucifer bellowed.

Ruby appeared.

"Feed our guest and then put him up in a nice guest room. Jack and I will only need to touch his soul once a month or so."

Ruby nodded. She grabbed Sam's arm and guided him to a room. She fed him actual food along with her blood. She left and he noticed she didn't lock the door. He waited a few minutes and sneaked down the hallway and out the door.

SSS

3 hours later

"Sam left," Ruby said to Lucifer.

"Where did he go?" Lucifer asked slightly amused.

"Crowley said he saw him heading towards Hyde Park. I have no idea if he has figured out that there are literally no people left in England."

"I was going to just treat him as a guest. A guest that wasn't supposed to leave admittedly, but one with relative ease and comfort. But, he has abused my hospitality." Lucifer winged over to the Tower of London and found the long forgotten basement dungeon. It hadn't been used since the time of Henry VIII. He then snapped his fingers.

Sam appeared before Lucifer. "Sam, you do realize that that collar attaches you to me. Every time, I snap my fingers, your collar comes to me. Therefore, you come to me. I was just going to allow you to stay in the palace, but you've proved that you can't be trusted." He pushed Sam back and attached his hands to the manacles on the wall behind him. "See you in about a month. Ruby will be around to feed you once a day." Lucifer walked out the door, took one look back at Sam, and slammed leaving him in utter darkness.

SSS

Dean pondered what Sam could have wanted to tell him about Cas.

Just then Castiel ran up. "Dean, Bobby's group has joined with Lucifer." Well, the ones I didn't smite.

"Even Bobby?" Dean asked. Maybe he wasn't his Bobby, but he couldn't imagine any Bobby doing that.

"Bobby was the one that convinced the rest," Castiel lied. In reality, he had had to make Bobby look like a traitor and smite him in order to get the rest on board. But, with Mary, Sam, and Jack as far as Dean knew, in Lucifer's clutches, Cas was hoping this would be last straw to break Dean.

"Sam told me something about you," Dean said.

"What?" Cas asked.

"I think you know." Dean remembered when Cas was working with Crowley to open Purgatory and when he stole the angel tablet. He always forgave him, but the absolute trust was gone. That was only for Sammy. Hopefully Cas would fall for his ruse. If there was anything to confess. Maybe Sam was just worried about him for all he knew.

"So, you know I've been working with Lucifer all along and I never lost my wings. Big deal. What are you going to do about it."

Dean kept his face straight. It was a struggle. He had never imagined anything so massive. "Why?"

"Because I always back the winner, Dean."

"No. That's not what I meant. Why am I still alive and free. Lucifer has my mom and Sam. But, you were still trying to trick me. Why?"

"I can't tell you that, Dean. Just know that you have a part to play. Bye, Dean," Castiel said and for the first time in years, Dean saw him fly off.

He was now truly alone.

SSS

"What do you want, Cas?" Sam asked weakly, as the angel popped into his cell.

"I'm not Castiel."

"Who are you, then?" Sam asked, wondering if he was lying or not. Why bother to lie to someone chained up in a dungeon?

"Billie told you about The Empty, right?"

"Yeah," Sam shrugged.

"I run it. I've been sleeping for...well, pretty much forever until your buddy Castiel woke me up."

"OK, I guess. What are you doing here?" Sam kind of hoped he was just going to kill him and take him to this Empty place. He thought sleeping forever sounded kind of good.

"If Lucifer gets control of the entire universe, it wouldn't be good."

"Really? I had no idea," Sam deadpanned.

"Worse than you know," the entity said meaningfully. He snapped his fingers and the restraints came off and Sam slumped to the floor. He snapped his fingers again and the collar came off. Then, he touched Sam and they disappeared and appeared in front of Dean.

"Dean!"

"Sammy? Is that really you?" Dean asked, eyeing Cas.

"That's not Cas," Sam said. "Cas has been working with Lucifer all along. Like the whole time we've known him."

"I know. He told me," Dean said. "Who is this, then?" Dean asked, not willing to trust anybody except Sam right now. Cas could easily be trying to con them again.

"I run the Empty."

"Terrific," Dean said, still not knowing if he beleived him or not.

"We have to stop Lucifer."

"Look," Dean began. "What should I call you? Empty?"

"Call me Cassus," he smiled.

"Cute," Sam said. "Sounds like Castiel and means empty in Latin.'

"Whatever," Dean said. "How do we stop Lucifer. Cassus," he added, hesitantly.

"You're not going to like it."


	5. Chapter 5

"Sam's gone," Ruby said, running into Lucifer's throne room.

Lucifer sighed and rolled his eyes. He snapped his fingers. An empty collar appeared in his hand.

"His collar was left on the floor," Ruby explained, unnecessarily.

"Go get Castiel and Crowley, split up and find him. If you don't bring him back to me within 24 hours, you are all dead. No, I take that back. You're not dead. You are all painfully, painfully alive for eternity."

"Yes, your majesty," Ruby said, scuttling out of the room to find the others. She had no doubt Lucifer would keep his promise.

SSS

"He's back with Dean," Castiel said.

"We're supposed to split up," Ruby reminded him.

"No, Cas is right," Crowley said. "He's with Dean. We should all go and collect him."

"Without hurting Dean. He's needed," Cas reminded them.

SSS

"No way," Dean said.

"I told you you wouldn't like it," Cassus pointed out.

"Dean," Sam began.

"No," Dean said. "We don't know if we can even trust this guy and you want to let him scatter your atoms all over the universe. He's not even talking about killing you, SAm. He says you'd feel every atom and be everywhere, in pain, for all eternity. We're not doing that again. It was bad enough when I let you jump in the cage."

"Dean's right. We don't know if we can trust you," Sam said, remembering how Lucifer had told him why his soul was so special. Maybe atomizing him was for Lucifer. Or, this guy to get power. Maybe Cassus was just Castiel. He felt like his head was going to explode into millions of pieces anyway. "Why would my being atomized hurt Lucifer besides the fact that he couldn't use my soul as fuel?"

"What? Dean asked.

Oh yeah, they hadn't talked about this. "That's what Lucifer wanted me for. He and Jack touch my soul to power up. It hurts like crazy. Ruby's been feeding me demon blood, too," he said. Mostly because he wanted some right now. He looked around just to see if a demon happened to be standing around.

Just then, Ruby, Cas, and Crowley appeared in front of them. Two out of three, Sam thought to himself, but knew there was no way he could drink demon blood in front of Dean. Not again. He could remove the temptation, though. He'd been drinking blood for days. He closed his eyes, and Ruby and Crowley fell to the ground.

"Sammy?" Dean asked.

"Ruby force-fed me, Dean. I swear."

"I beleive you," Dean assured him.

"That little trick won't work on me," Cas reminded me.

"No, but this will," Cassus said, and waved a hand in front of Castiel.

"Where did he go?" Dean asked.

"Back to the Empty. Back to sleep. Trust me, nothing gets out of the Empty. Castiel was the first relase ever."

"Why did you let him go?" Sam asked.

"I guess Jack had woken him up. I didn't realize how he woke up at the time. But, he was annoying me, so I sent him back down."

"I can see that," SAm and Dean said in unison.

"Wait a second," Sam said. "How could Lucifer know that you would kick Cas out because he was annoying? He said everything was part of his plan."

"How would he have known Jack would wake Cas up for that matter?" Dean asked.

"Um, Dean," Sam said looking down at the ground. "You were right about Jack."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, confused.

"Jack's been working with Lucifer, too. He was just pretending to be this naive, good kid."

"You're kidding me." Dean honestly had not seen that coming. Even with everything else thrown in his face. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that Mom was in on it from the beginning," Dean joked. At least he hoped he was joking. He actually found himself holding his breath waiting for Sam's response

"No. He's brainwashed her now, though."

"Why? What can she do for him? He's got angels, and demons and a arch-Nephilim. What's Mom got that can come close to that?"

"I don't know. I think it might have something to do with breaking you," Sam tried to think if he had heard anything else. It was getting hard to concentrate. He needed more demon blood, and he thought he might have killed the last two demons in this particular realm.

"This is fascinating," Cassus said, but I really must atomize Sam, now."

"NOOOO!" Dean yelled as Cassus went to snap his fingers. He plunged an angel blade deep into him and watched as he fell to the ground. The earth shook. Lucifer and Jack appeared before them. They noise from above was deafening. The ground shaking below made Sam and Dean fall down.

"Thank you, Dean," Lucifer smiled down on him. "Killing the keeper of the empty unites all the Universes. He was the one thing that exists outside all the different worlds. I killed Michael while you were wringing your hands over everything. The universe is mine."

"What about Chuck?" Dean asked hopefully.

"I can't beleive you ever though Chuck was God. No, he was just an actor, Dean."

The ground finally stopped shaking. Dean stood up. "There are other angels in the other worlds, right? They'll fight you."

"That's where you're wrong, Dean. They'll all join me or die."

"How can you be so sure?" Sam asked.

"Because thanks to you, Jack and I have the power of 10,000 angels. With a snap of our fingers we can take out entire garrisons. We'll show you. Just for the fun of it."

Lucifer grabbed hold of Sam and Jack grabbed Dean. They snapped their fingers and because the universes had been combined were able to go to a new universe fully populated with angels. "COME ON DOWN!" yelled Lucifer.

What seemd to be a thousand angels started flying down from the sky. Lucifer and Jack looked at each other and snapped their fingers and before Sam and DEan's eyes, the angels disappeared into a large puff of smoke.

"Holy crap," Dean said.

"See. No need to worry. I have things well in hand. When the other angels hear of this, most will bow down to serve me. The others will be easily taken care of."

"So, you'll kill us now?" Dean asked, almost hopefully. This was not a universe, he wanted to witness.

"Well, I can never let Sammy here die. He's the source of most of my power."

'Kill me' Sam mouthed to Dean.

Jack laughed. He had seen what Sam said. "Even if he could get away from me to do it, we'd just bring you back."

"What did you do with our mom?" Dean asked. He was assuming they were going to kill him. He knew Sam's fate sucked, but he had to ask about his mother.

"We've brainwashed her into thinking she's on our side," Jack said. "We're going to lock you in a dungeon and let her be your jailer. Your torturer. You'll be tortured in more ways than one."

"It won't work," Dean said, remembering how she came back after Toni brainwashed her.

"I assure you it will, Dean."

Lucifer snapped his fingers. Dean was in a dungeon in Russia in one universe, Sam was in a dungeon in Brazil in another. Dean was being tortured by his mother. Sam was being fed demon blood almost non-stop by demons. And, of course, the beloved collar was back on.

SSS

One hundred years later.

"Sire."

"Yes?" Lucifer said to the rather large angel who had replaced Mary winchester when she had died.

"Dean Winchester has died again."

"Did you bring him back?" Lucifer asked.

"I did. But this seems cruel. He's insane. He's a drooling mess. He knows he can never die. That there is no release."

Lucifer snapped his fingers and exploded the angel. He would allow no softy to torture Dean. He decided that he would feed off Sam and torture Dean himself for a while. In fact, he decided he would bring Sam with him.

"Sam!" he yelled

"Yes, sire," Sam said, entering the room. Lucifer had freed him from his bonds a few decades ago. All the demon blood had finally corrupted him.

"Would you like to go see your brother?"

"Brother?" Sam asked, honestly confused. "I have no brother."

"That's right, my mistake," Lucifer smiled. "would you like to watch me torture a prisoner?"

"Sure, why not?"

Lucifer stuck his hand into SAm to gain power from his soul. Evil and corrupt, or not, all men have souls. It no longer hurt Sam, though.

SSS

"Sammy?" Dean asked in surprise. Dean was still alive way past the point that he should be, but he looked like a shriveled, old man. Sam still looked like he was in his 30s. He must be hallucinating.

"I remember him," Sam said.

"Sammy, please help me," Dean cried as Lucifer started in on him.

"Help you? Why would I help you? You're nothing to me."

"SAMMY!" Dean screamed. Both out of pain, and loss of his brother, and hopelessness.

Somewhere inside Sam heard his brother. Really heard him. The Sam he hadn't been for years was reached. He walked up behind Lucifer and swiftly grabbed his blade and stabbed him. "Bet you didn't plan this, he whispered.

Lucifer looked surprised as he died. Sam was right he hadn't planned that. He hadn't foreseen it.

Jack popped up. "No, but I did." In almost one motion, he grabbed the blade and put Sam's collar on. "Dad never fully trusted me. And, he knew I was as powerful-no, more powerful-than him. I needed you to take him out because he always underestimated you. I won't."

As he was giving his speech, he chained Sam up. "Say goodbye. this is the last time you'll see each other."

Jack disappeared with Sam.

SSS

Six hundred year later

Dean died. An angel brought him back. He didn't even realize it any more. He had lost his mind years ago.

Sam screamed in rage. He was little more than an animal. He was fed blood by demons and fed upon by Jack. He had lost his humanity years ago.

But, each one was left with exactly one thought. One word really. Dean spent all day mumbling "Sam" over and over again. And Sam screamed "Dean" day and night. Neither really knew what it meant.

The End

None of you hate me as much as I hate myself.


End file.
